Love Me Tender
by MiDnIgHtHoUr77
Summary: It was just Doctor Light. It wasn't supposed to be a life-threatening mission, but Beast Boy's an idiot and she should've known better. (BBRae, RobStar, CyBee)
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.**

"What kind of movie do you want to watch?" She was annoyed. Of course she was annoyed. It was Beast Boy.

"Don't care." Why did he have to be SO annoying? Nearly every other word out of his mouth was some stupid joke nobody was ever going to find funny or the plan for some stupid prank. And if he wasn't talking about that stuff he was trying to get her to show some emotion, or trying to include her in activities she really, _really_ did not want to be included in. Like Stink Ball.

"How can you not care?" His voice grabbed her from her musings and she snapped her attention back to the mutant boy sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her seat on the couch, an array of DVDs spread out around him.

"I don't care. Caring is not an option for me. How many times do I have to tell you? Now, if you'll excuse me.." Enough was enough. She didn't have to sit here and be annoyed. She could go find a different place to read her book, or mediatate, or..

"Raven, please..." And then there was that damn, annoying voice. That voice that pleaded with her to stay before the words even came. The voice that made her painfully aware of his past and his issues and his own little spot of darkness. That voice that was increasingly becoming something she could never refuse, but she didn refuse to acknowledge any sort of feeling for the boy.

"Please don't go. I don't want to be alone." There. Now, he'd done it. Damn him. Damn him and his ability to make the emoto-clones in her mind go beserk. She hated it. He would be alone if she left. Cyborg and Bumblebee were out on some sort of date (The entire city should know about it by now since he wouldn't shut up about it) and Starfire and Robin were off doing something coupley as well. They were the only two in the tower, and neither of them had any really outside friends that they could call. Sure they were friendly (Beast Boy more than Raven) with the other honorary members of the Titan-dom, but Raven only had so much room in her doom and gloom for other people. She wasn't quite sure why Beast Boy hadn't made better friends with other people or didn't have a girlfriend, but he didn't and she was all he had right now. She turned sideways and risked a peek over her shoulder. And there were the puppy-dog eyes. Literally. Resistance was futile now. Sighing she trekked the two feet back to her spot on the couch and plopped herself down unceremoniously. She tried to ignore the excited singing coming from inside her head from Happy and Affection when she saw the too big smile stretched across his too green face, revealing his fang.

"So, what kind of mo-"

"Raven. Beast Boy. Trouble in Alaska. Doctor Light again. Bring your coats." And then as abruptly as the dark screen had been filled with their leader, he was gone. Why he had felt the need to put himself on the screen and not just use thier communicators was beyond Raven.

"Why is there never a hello? Or a goodbye? Or anything? Who raised him? Batman, King of Smiles?" Quickly, a pale hand was brought up to her mouth to cover the giggle that was tugging at her lips at his wildly flailing limbs. The boy was at his funniest when he abandoned the jokes, but she didn't dare tell him that.

"Actually yes. Batman did raise him." She deadpanned and he turned around, a dumbfounded expression pulled his jaw down towards the floor. The giggle softly escaped and his smile returned, even wider than before if at all possible.

"Want a shortcut to your room?" Gratefully he nodded and jumped into the black hole she provided on the floor next to where he was sitting, landing on the floor of his room. Jumping up, he did a quick and uncoordinated victory dance as he replayed the sound of her laugh in his head. He loved to make her laugh. He craved it like he craved tofu dogs. There was just something about hearing that raspy sound that made him immensely happy. He supposed it probably had something to do with the major crush he had on her while he gathered his gear made for snow and ice. Slapping the purple heart he had taped to his door for good luck, he left his room. Mentally she cursed herself as she went into her own room and grabbed her fur-lined cloak. She hadn't meant to actually be nice to him. Together, they climbed into the T-car with Raven in shotgun and Beast Boy in the back. The ridiculous grin spread across his lips was still there causing Raven to huff and pull her hood up, preparing for the ride ahead of them.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no , no, no. No! C'mon Beast Boy. You can't... No..." The girl in the blue cloak sat huddled and crouched around the green boy. A circle of friends surrounded the somber scene, fresh snow beginning to fall over the arctic landscape.

"Raven..." The Tamarian tried to approach her friend, but soon there was an inpenetrable black dome of energy seperating the sorceress from the alien.

"Robin!" The startled girl called out to her boyfriend uncertainly. She wasn't used to being completely shut off from her friends in this way.

"Leave her be, Star. Raven's got healing powers. If anyone's going to help him, it's her. I need help repairing Cyborg. His circuitry-"

"Is not built for this cold, I know. You told me, Robin."

It hadn't seemed like an altogetherly too difficult or life-threatening mission when they'd left the tower. It was only Doctor Light. And then it was Doctor Light and the High Five, and then a giant wall of white death was crashing down towards them. An avalance. Robin suspected the High Five of intentionally setting it off, but it had gotten out of control. Doctor Light and Mammoth had been both been buried along with all of the Teen Titans. Trapped in the Alaskan wilderness with Beast Boy unresponsive, Cyborg's systems shutting down, and their communications jammed. Life seemed pretty bleak outside of Raven's dome, but inside was worse.

"Beast Boy, please hang on. You idiot. You can't die on me. Not now." The changeling had saved everyone's lives, but he should've known better. He should've known not to morph with his mouth open while he was buried beneath the snow. He should've known to morph into something warmer if he was going to dig them all out. He should've known to wake her up so that she could help him. Or Starfire. Or Cyborg. Or anybody! Anybody would've been better just so long as he wasn't doing it all by himself. He just should've known, but he was an idiot. So now she was covering him with her cloak inside an energy dome to keep her friends out so that she could focus. Cyborg needed saving too anyways. She was pleading with an ice-cold, unconscious, stupid, stupid boy. Sniffling, from the cold or not she didn't know, she extended her hands over his body. Soon they were glowing white as she tried to heal him. Her energy and strength drained away while she focused slowly on the boy in front of her, as she grew indifferent to the time that passed.

"Raven, he's dead." She didn't answer her leader. His words were inconsequential. Beast Boy could simply not be dead. She wouldn't allow it. She'd defeated Trigon. She wasn't letting this stupid boy kill himself trying to save her. No. She refused.

"Raven, he has no pulse. You're spending all your energy on something worthless." Worthless? Beast Boy was _**not**_ worthless. He'd saved all their lives. It didn't matter if she could hear the rawness in her leader's throat as he tried to hold back tears. It didn't matter that she knew he spoke the truth because even she couldn't reanimate a corpse, but Beast Boy wasn't dead and he certainly wasn't worthless!

"He is not worthless." She didn't break her spell to speak to the boy. She didn't stop looking at her teammate and so she missed the completely stunned look on her leader's face as he realized the error in his words.

"Raven, I didn't mean..."

"He's not worthless and he's not dead!" The dark-haired boy in the mask was suddenly and unceremoniously flung backwards away from the girl.

"Raven.." The normally loud girl was now speaking in a soft and gentle voice. A talent she so rarely used outside of speaking to Robin.

"No! Leave. I won't give up on him." Her normal monotone was slowly crumbling away. Since when had she felt this strongly about Beast Boy? She'd known she'd been growing more and more fond of the idiotic prankster, but this? This was an emotion beyond her. An emotion she very rarely felt and she didn't know how to deal with it. It was breaking the calm plaster that was her face.

"Do you love him?" Raven stopped. Raven stopped breathing and thinking, but she didn't stop healing. "Your powers are controlled by emotions like mine, yes? I do not know an emotion more powerful than love." She heard the other girl's footsteps as she crunched away through the snow. Love? It took a moment for the words to completely register within Raven, and it took another moment for her to gather the courage to venture into her mind to consult the emotion. It wasn't necesarily a lengthy conversation.

_Do I?_

Yes.

_Beast Boy?_

Yes.

_How long have I..?_

A long, long time. Now, save him please. I do not wish to die without ever having been expressed.

The Raven in the white cloak turned away and Raven was back in Alaska, kneeling next to Beast Boy, her arms cramped and sore from being held aloft for so long. Could this work? Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Raven, he was my best friend, but I think we need to-" She didn't even both to let him finish his sentence.

"Back. Up." It came out as a growl and her friends knew better than to not do as she said. When she tried to stand, her muscles refused and she fell back down to the cold, hard, unforgiving ice. Robin had to hold Starfire back as Raven struggled to her feet once more, joints and bones creaking and groaning in protest.

"Azarath. Metrion. ZINTHOS!" Her team was amazed as a pure white light blazed forth from Raven, illuminating her in beautiful light. They went slack-jawed as they saw a familiar shape in a non-familiar color rise up from behind their friend, and they had to shield their eyes from the intensity of the light as the white raven covered Beast Boy's body with its wings. Robin only dared to open his eyes when he heard the all too familiar sound of a body falling down to the ground and he found Raven lying face down on top of Beast Boy. Immediately he was by their sides, checking for pulses on both of their bodies. Star was waiting patiently nearby and Cyborg hadn't moved, waiting with baited breath.

"He's... They're both.. alive." They sat in shocked silence as the news broke through, but the silence was short lived.

"Robin!" He turned and saw Jinx on the back of Kid Flash as they appeared on the scene. Happily, she jumped off and pulled her communicator out, speaking into it.

"We found them! We found them all!"


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing. And I think it's ridiculous that I have to put this on everything I type.**

"Robin, maybe you should sit down?" Their leader was nearly wearing a groove into the floo of the ops room. They were back in the tower, courtesy of Jinx and Kid Flash, but Robin hadn't even bothered to take his coat off, instead preferring to stew and pace as he waited for Starfire to come back with news of his teammates.

"Let me rephrase. Robin, sit." The larger, older boy was then placing his mechanical hands on him and forcing him down onto the couch. "They're going to fine. They're back here and they're both alive. It's all going to fine." To tell the truth, Cyborg was silently freaking out inside his own mind. His best friend had died and now he wasn't dead and it was because of _Raven._ He'd figured she'd maybe be the one to eventually kill him, but not go insane when he was dead and save him.

"We can't be sure of that. We can't be sure of anything anymore." Cyborg sighed as his leader buried his head in his hands.

"I'm going to make some pancakes. And don't you tell me this isn't the time for chow. We haven't eaten for four days. We all need some sustenance."

"They gave us food on the way back here." Came the muffled reply to the overzealous super teen.

"That wasn't real food. That was just something to keep us alive for the time being. You need real food. Like pancakes." Robin didn't bother to argue, he knew he'd just loose and end up eating the pancakes anyways. He couldn't help but wish for waffles, but he didn't dare speak the word. Waffles were Raven's favorite thing and he wasn't sure how he was feeling about that whole big mess right at the moment. He didn't have the energy to think about that, or to argue with Cyborg over fluffy breakfast foods. He was barely awake as it was. How was he even awake? It all seemed like some sort of dream. A horrible, horrible nightmare, really: going on the mission, the avalance, waking up beside an unconscious and half-dead looking Starfire, Beast Boy simply not waking up, trying to repair the circuitry he knew so little about in Cyborg as Raven sat by Beast Boy for four days straight trying her hardest to heal a corpse, and then finally Jinx and Kid Flash appearing. Jinx had been doing some undercover work in a local bar when she heard some of the villains talking about how the mighty Teen Titans had fallen in Alaska. Only four days too late. Robin was simply grateful that she'd shown up when she did. He wasn't sure how much longer they would've been able to handle the cold and lack of food. They had been dangerously close to not suriving this mission, and he shivered at the thought, goose bumps suddenly covering his arms even beneath his coat.

"Robin?" The sound of the door opening broke through his thoughts, and he sprang off the couch, turning towards his girlfriend as he did so, hoping for the best and anticipating the worst.

"Oh, c'mon! I just got him to sit down Star!" He heard the cyborg complaining but his eyes were locked on his girlfriend's guarded expression. She wasn't crying. That was a good sign. She wouldn't be able to hide it for very long if their friends weren't going to make it.

"Robin, please. Sit. Cyborg?" Slowly, she walked over to the couch and gently pushed on Robin's shoulder, pushing him back down into the fluffy furniture. He collapsed readily beneath her gentle and loving touch. Cyborg ventured forth from the kitchen and sat down on Robin's right side as Starfire perched on his left.

"How are they?" The question was barely more than a whisper, the boy only half wanting to hear the answer.

"They are alive. Raven is in a restorative trance similar to when we though Beast Boy had attacked her as the beast, but really hadn't."

"And BB?" The dark-skinned boy almost didn't want to hear the answer to that one either. He'd been dead. What if he was again? People didn't just come back from the dead.

"He is in a state not unlike Raven's, but his temperature is much too low. There is too much water in his internal systems from them being frozen. Raven tried, but she couldn't thaw much more than his internal organs while still being able to restart his heart. Especially while in such a cold atmosphere." The three friends sat in silence as they thought over everything that had happened. Nothing would ever be the same, but Cyborg got up to keep making his pancakes. Starfire quietly grabbed her boyfriend's hand, knowing not to speak just yet. It was a lot to take in. The Tamarainian now knew that her teammate loved Beast Boy and she knew that Beast Boy cared very deeply for the sorceress, and now that affection had been revealed. The implications of one of the team dying had a very harrowing affect on the team. When Raven had been thought to be dead, they'd had a purpose. Trying to defeat Trigon and save the world, and then there had been the possibility of bringing her back, which they did. Now, they were left with nothing. Empty hands and empty heads trying to make sense of the fragile exsistance they led. Soon enough Cyborg returned to the couch carrying three plates of pancakes, a bottle of syrup and a bottle of mustard. However, he was too late. Robin had since fallen asleep, laying his head in her lap. She'd just taken his coat off for him when Cyborg had returned with the food. When he saw his leader curled on his side he let out a low chuckle, setting the plates on the table in front of Starfire.

"I still can't believe..." He couldn't finish the sentence, but he really didn't have to. She understood perfectly.

"I know." For once, the mustard went untouched.

"Did you know she had so much power? I've never seen her use white magic like that. I mean, for Trigon that one time, but her cloak was white and she'd just returned from the dead on Robin's back." He sat, watching the pancakes cool. What was wrong with him? He was starving and yet he couldn't eat. He was waiting for a joke that never came from a green changeling that wasn't sitting with them. He was waiting for the resulting sarcastic comment, or eye rolling, or smack that came directly afterwards. He was waiting for words that never came.

"Was not her magic white while she was under the influence of the book?"

"The book? Oh, I don't really remember, Star. I think it was." Again an uneasy silence filled the room as Starfire waited to hear the familiar raspy monotone tell her that waffles were better than pancakes. She waited to hear the green boy say something strange and funny. She waited for her friends to burst through the door and tell her it was all some sort of elaborate prank that Beast Boy had roped Raven into pulling. When finally Cyborg spoke, breaking through the sound barrier, seemingly way too loud.

"I think... we should take some time off."

"Oh, I'm soooo glad you said that." Some unnamable villain stood in the window, hands filled with bombs. "Because, you see, your tower won't be here much longer and neither will you!" Starfire was up and out the door, flying through the halls towards her unconscious friends before he even drew the breath to start his maniacal laugh. Robin's head hit the cushion and he woke, instantly in battle mode, taking in the opponent he faced. Skinny. Red pants. No shoes. Blue shirt. Black dreadlocks. Scars. Green eyes. His physical attributes were noted and filed away in the giant data base that was Robin's head in no time at all.

"How'd you get past the security?" Cackling, he brought an unconscious Bumblebee into view.

"Bee!" Cyborg was on his feet, about to charge the bastard when Robin put his hand on his friend's chest. If he dropped the girl now she would plummet straight downwards and crash into the ground. Immediately, Robin almost regretted giving Bee full access to the tower.

"You really shouldn't leave a pretty little key card like this just wander around on her own." She was thrown to the ground at Cyborg's feet, but he was no longer there. He was already charging the deranged lunatic holding bombs. Before his target was reached, he was flung backwards while Robin was thrown back into the couch. He coughed and waved a hand in front of his face, trying to clear the smoke.

"Oooooh, Tick-Tock, the bomb has dropped!" His cackled echoed around the room surrounding Robin, and bouncing off the walls, taunting him and he knew with absolute certainty that the villain was no longer inside the tower. In fact, he was probably far away. Immediately, he began to think of where they could've hid a bomb and if they had time to diffuse it. He wasn't sure if Raven and Beast Boy could survive moving and he wans't sure how he was going to move them so quickly, and to where. His thoughts were answered by the muffled sound of an explosion somewhere beneath his feet. And then the floor began to crumble before his eyes.

"We have to go. Now!"

"Hello! WE CAN'T FLY! What are you crazy?" He was already gingerly holding his girlfriend, trying to prevent any further damage from coming to her. His only mistake was standing much to close to the window, out of which he was promptly pushed with enough horizontal force to land them in the deep water, somehow. A now thoroughly wet, cold and annoyed Bumblebee was treading water next to Cyborg and Robin as they watched the tower crumble and burn. They could feel the heat from the fire as Starfire flew over and plucked Robin right from the water.

"Oh sure he gets saved first. Where's Beast Boy and Raven with the rescue? Couldn't he be a dolphin and can't she fly?" Cyborg turned and looked towards the shore, making out a spot of green and a spot of purple.

"They're on the shore."

"Alone? Together? Why isn't the shore being blown up then?" She laughed at her joke until she noticed he wasn't joining her. "Cy? What's-" That was the moment Starfire came back and picked them both up in one go of it. Her hair and his parts drying out from the wind as they were carried. When Starfire set them down, Bumblebee moved to Raven's side and immediately sank to the ground, dark hands ghosting over the sooty patches on her friend's pale, blank face.

"Are they..?

"Just unconscious, bee. Not from the explosion. From Alaska." Cyborg put a comforting hand on Bee's shoulder as he knelt down next to her. Robin had been the one to speak. He was the only one who could really manage to get the words out.

"Jinx told me about it. She said that she and Kid Flash rescued you all. She didn't..."

"Because she didn't know. Nobody else knows. We'd been out there for four days. Nobody really questioned why they were unconscious. I was half there myself, Bee."

"What happened to them? Why are they.." Her eyes were brimming, swimming with tears that she refused to let fall as she felt Cyborg's arms surround her shoulders, trying to prepare her for what she was about to hear. She'd just dried off, she refused to get damp all over again, especially from stupid tears.

"Beast Boy died," And when the ever stoic leader's voice cracked she turned and buried her face in her boyfriend's chest, letting him surround her completely with warmth and strength. She wasn't going to cry. "saving us. Raven then saved him." That did it. Now she was crying. She'd always thought the two secretly liked each other, but this? This was something beyond her. She'd never have to ability to save someone like that, but Raven.. Raven had knocked herself unconscious doing it. Tears flowed freely from Starfire's cheeks and Robin wrapped her in her own hug, she hugged him back just as fiercely when she felt the tears that he'd tried to so hard not to shed bleed into her uniform. They stayed like that until Robin had regained his composure.

"Do you now somewhere we could go? Our house just kind of..." Robin gestured to the smoldering pile of rubble that used to be the tower by way of finishing his sentence.

"You can stay at Titan's East or you can come with me to my grandma's. She always wants me to bring my friends. Ever since my grandpa died and all her kids moved out she complains about the house being too big and too quiet. You wouldn't be any sort of bother." Robin took one look at his weary, weather-worn, and broken team and decided.

"Your grandmother's sounds perfect, Bee."

**Ta Da! Hope you enjoy your day! Drop me a review if you feel so inclined. You're beautiful and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I. Don't. Own. The. Teen. Titans. There. Enjoy the story.**

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Just that, Raven. We didn't know how long you'd be in that trance and we don't know how long he'll be in it either, but he's alive Raven. You saved him." Robin was the only one in the room with her. He had been checking in on her when she'd woken up. He was now perched on the side of her bed and she was sitting up, supported by the pillows. None of the other members of the team even knew she was awake yet.

"How long was I out?"

"Five days." A delicate, pale hand found its way up to her temple and she looked around the room, taking in the different details around her, noticing the different smell of Bumblebee's grandmother's house.

"Where are we?"

"Bumblebee's grandmother's house. The Tower kind of got blown up. Somebody's really trying to kill us, so we thought it best to go under the radar at least until you and Beast Boy recovered." She nodded slightly for a moment and sat in her bed, assessing her emotions, seeing if she was stable enough for what she wanted to do. A quick look around told her that everything seemed in order, at least for being asleep for five days straight and using her powers for four days straight before that.

"Can I see him?"

"Right now?" His eyes widened in shock. Of all the possible reactions she could've had, he'd never thought of her asking to see him so quickly, but when she nodded he moved forward to help her out of her bed. Ungratefully, she accepted his help when her muscles screamed in protest from having sat in the same position for so long. A now-useless bandage full of long dried blood crinkled at her side. She asssumed (correctly) that it had been from random schrapnel when the tower had exploded. Nothing too much, but apparently it had warranted a bandage. Stringing an arm around her waist, and her looping her arm around his shoulder they stood up together and slowly made their way out of the room. The cut on her side seemed to be more severe than she initially thought, she couldn't stretch her right side very much at all. When they reached the doorway she realized that she didn't have her cloak draping around her shoulders. She decided not to mention it. Before they'd even taken four steps out of her room, they were found.

"Raven! You are awake!" Before she even knew what was happening, strong, orange Tamarainian arms were wrapped around her and Robin had slipped his arm away. Surprisingly, the alien was tempering her strength and the hug was only slightly bruising. Over Starfire's shoulder Raven could see Bumblebee leaning against Cyborg, both sporting too big smiles on their faces.

"She wants to see Beast Boy." She watched as the smiles slowly slid off of her friend's faces and Starfire released the sorceress, only to assume the position her boyfriend had just vacated. Together, and much quicker than Robin would've been able to take her, they made their way down the hallway, trailed by Robin and Cyborg. Bee had quietly excused herself to the kitchen to make cookies or something. She felt cookies solved just about every problem. Starfire took a moment to pause in front of a wooden door, looking to Raven to make sure that this was what she wanted to do. Without a word, Raven reached forward and turned the knob to the door, opening it herself. Immediately she was greeted by a slight breeze blowing her hair back from her face and she could smell outside and Beast Boy, relatively the same smell. All of the windows were open in his room and it was filled with sunshine. When her eyes finally rested on the boy in question she was filled with unexpected emotions. Too many at once to fully identify and deal with. She wasn't prepared to see his face so still, an IV attached to his arm. She wasn't prepared to smell the staleness, knowing that he hadn't moved in that room for five days. She certainly wasn't prepared to see the small corner of a familiar looking hue of blue peeking out from under his covers. She was, however, unsurprised when her legs gave out from underneath her and Starfire flew her back to her own room before she could crash to the floor. It was only when she realized that Robin had made Starfire drop her at her door instead of taking her inside that she realized she was crying. Crying? She couldn't be crying. That would release too much emotion and she wouldn't be able to control her powers. Eventually, when the world wasn't exploding around her, she allowed herself to cry and buried her head in her hands. Soon enough she felt warm arms surround her and carry her into her bed. When she finally brought her hands away from her face she saw Robin perching, once again on the edge of her bed.

"Is everyone OK?" She didn't like the way crying made her voice raw and crackly. His voice was smooth and low when he answered as if he didn't want to upset her more, which he probably didn't.

"Nobody was hurt. Nothing exploded and nothing harmful happened. It just suddenly began to rain, is all. Don't worry." Gratefully she nodded her head and closed her eyes. She needed to assess the damage to her emotions. She couldn't remember the last time she'd cried. She didn't hear Robin leave the room over her emoticlones. Entering the familiar world of Nevermore, she looked around at her other selves and asked a single question to them all.

Why am I crying?

_Because you're happy he's alive._

_Because you're relieved you're all alive._

_Because you're sad that he's asleep._

_Because you're scared that he might not wake up._

_Because you're angry you couldn't heal him all the way._

_You're crying because you care about him. _Raven turned towards the rarely seen, white-cloaked version of herself and the others simply faded away for once. _We are you, Raven. Don't you see? Stop trying to isolate and seperate us. You're just crying. People cry all the time. Deal with it. This might've worked when you were little, but you can understand emotions and your powers now. You don't need to shut us off any longer. _

But I'm not human. I'm not a person.

_You ARE a person, and you do cry. You have emotions. Look at us all here. We're not going away anytime soon. You can learn to control your powers while still expressing us. You only need the courage to let yourself love._

_And you have plenty of courage._ A familiar green-cloaked figure sounded out loudly.

_Really, Raven, why don't you listen to me for once? I give great guidance. _Love was relentless.

_She's right, you know._ Knowledge pushed her glasses further up her nose as she began to speak again in her know-it-all kind of voice. _You can't keep from feeling us forever. You'll just turn into an emotionally loose canon with random emtional outbursts that will only get worse and worse and hurt the people you care about, even if you deny caring about them._ The original Raven didn't like where this conversation was going. Emotions were bad for her. She'd been taught this at a very young age, but... maybe it was time to try something different. Maybe she could control herself. Until she remembered the emotion she tried her hardest to contain.

What about rage? All of her emoticlones turned suddenly silent. Quiet enough that Raven could hear Timid when she finally spoke up.

_Having the beast inside you doesn't make you a monster. Knowing when to let it out makes you a man. _With a gasp, she wrenched herself out of Nevermore and opened her eyes to the world around her. Cyborg was leaning against the wall next to the doorway.

"Do you think I'm a monster?" He blinked at the question, surprised. He hadn't noticed that she'd opened her eyes.

"I think you're my friend who has a monster of a father. Your DNA doesn't make you who you are. You are who you choose to be, and you've chosen to be a hero." He cracked a smile at her. "Want some waffles? I'll help you to the kitchen." Gratefully she nodded and as she was being led towards the kitchen she stopped her friend and looked up at him.

"Thank you." And then she risked a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**Don't own it. Nope. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME.**

As the days passed Raven began to venture from her room, needing less and less help each time. She'd walk to the kitchen for some tea in the early mornings, she still hadn't eaten real food. Even the waffles that Cyborg made just didn't smell as good, and she just couldn't bring herself to eat them. She'd go to the living room to meditate. To familiarize herself with her emotions and because it was simply habit and something she enjoyed at this point. Sometimes she'd just wander aimlessly around the rather large, old house, but for the most part she stayed inside her room. Sure, her friends would visit her and she'd speak to them if they were in the kitchen of living room, but the conversations were never very long. The others just couldn't handle being in so much darkness for so long with the constant smell of incense clinging to their noses. She NEVER went outside and she didn't even go near open windows. She never went back to Beast Boy's room and she didn't ask for her cloak back. There must've been a reason that it was with him and not her; Robin wasn't stupid enough to arbitrarily leave her cloak on him after she'd placed it there in Alaska. Little did she know that the reason her cloak was with him was because he'd grow agitated and rip his IV out of his own arm if it wasn't with him. (The team had tried to give the cloak back to Raven on several occasions while both members were out of commision with disastrous results.)

It'd been five weeks since the avalance at Alaska and four had been spent at Granny's, as she insisted they all call her. Raven was fond of the old woman because she was exactly as she seemed: short, round, kind and the smell of cookies seemed to permanently follow her around as she puttered through the house, keeping the bouquets spread throughout the household haphazardly full and fresh. She even had laugh lines and freckles scattered throughout her once shop-stoppinly beautiful, weather-worn face. Four weeks, or thereabouts and disaster struck in the form of Bumblebee's cousins. One five-year-old and one eleven-year-old had come to spend the weekend with their grandma. Raven didn't know why and she didn't much care. She spent most of the time locked within her own room, meditating and not thinking about Beast Boy and the mission she'd gone on with children. She'd repeatedly tried to contact Robin but had only gotten him and as misguided as his help had been, she know appreciated it, even if she'd never let him know that. No, she couldn't be thinking about that. That was when her emotions tended to act out and make things happen with her powers that she hadn't meant to do, thinking about Beast Boy.

"Raven?" Bumblebee stuck her head through the door, looking for the sorceress.

"Yes?"

"Would you want to come watch a movie with the kids, me and Starfire? They can be quite a handful and the boys abandoned us with an eleven-year-old boy." Before Raven could even begin to refuse Starfire was in the room pleading as if she were pleading for her life.

"Oh please please pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplea-"

"Alright. Alright Star. I'll watch the movie with you guys."

"YAY!" Instantly Raven regretting the decision as the breath was squeezed from her lungs in a bone crushing Starfire hug.

"I think I might need some clothes though." Bumblebee gave her a devilish grin as Raven looked down at her tired black leotard.

"Gotcha covered!" And so that was how Raven found herself sitting on the couch in black short shorts and a black turtleneck that hung and followed her form in a strange way next to a rather excitable eleven-year-old named Timmy. The movie they had chosen to watch had, of course, been a superhero movie since Timmy was obsessed with them. Raven couldn't help but watch the flik with a certain amount of disdain. They were all so stupid and the answers were pulled out of a hat somewhere in another dimension and so outlandish nobody would've ever thought of them on their own. It was when the movie was nearly over that the little boy dared to speak to her.

"You know there's real superheroes out there? Like this, but actually real?" She scoffed in her mind but tried not to let him see her roll her eyes.

"Yep."

"Like the Teen Titans." A small smile tugged its way onto her lips at the mention of her team as a real group of superheroes. "They're cool. Cyborg's got this awesome canon for an arm and it's all blue and stuff. Isn't that awesome?" Starfire turned her head to the little boy slowly and opened her mouth to say something, but Raven's hand covered it. She didn't need some other little boy begging her for help all the time if he found out who she was. Raven smiled at the alien as understanding dawned upon her. Having a secret identity was new to them both after all.

"Hey, Star do you wanna help me and Bri make some cookies?" The little girl was already dragging Bee towards the kitchen as she said this.

"Cookies!" The five-year-old screamed as her cousin grabbed onto the doorframe, waiting for Starfire to say something.

"I'd love to! Raven, do you wish to come?" She was already reaching for Raven's hand, to drag her into the kitchen much like what was happening with Bumblebee, but she took one look at Timmy's disgusted face and decided against it. Even if she didn't like kids she knew enough not to leave one alone in a room like this for an extended period of time.

"I want to watch the rest of the movie with Timmy actually. You have fun." The alien girl almost looked crestfallen until another screech of 'cookies!' whipped her head around just in time to see Bee disappear into the kitchen. Without another word, Starfire happily bounded off of the couch and into the kitchen to join her friend.

"So do you know much about the Teen Titans?" The sparkle was back in the little boy's eye as he turned to his companion and sat cross-legged on the couch.

"A little." _Everything._

"Robin used to be my least favorite when I was a kid." _You're still a kid, idiot. _"Because he doesn't have any powers. I mean, that' slame, but then when I got older I realized it made him cool 'cause he does all this cool, brave stuff without any powers. Right? Isn't he cool?" _Oh, if only 'fearless leader' could hear his biggest fan._ Raven dutifully nodded her head as she turned to the kid and sat cross-legged across from him on the couch cushions.

"He's the leader too. And like almost Batman, right?" _He's a little less brooding than the Bat. _"And Batman's like the best there is! He doesn't have any powers, but he can beat Superman! And he's got the BatMobile which is just awesome, right?" She nodded and smiled again, happy to let him do all the talking for now.

"You don't say much, do you?" She blinked as he echoed her own thoughts slightly.

"No." His freckles moved whenever he talked and she longed to straighten the one piece of blonde hair on his forehead that wasn't in line with the rest of his hair. She'd forgotten the enthusiasm little kids had.

"What was I talking about again?"

"The Teen Titans and then Batman." She had to admit, it was a little odd yet gratifying hearing somebody explain your own team to you. She knew every little intimate detail about them all. Why Robin had learned that move and when Starfire couldn't fly it meant that she and Robin had had another fight, but her side of the tower was filled with incessant giggling when they made up again. She knew that Cyborg had gone with Jinx to the prom while undercover at the villain school. She also knew that he'd been at the gym, working out the entire night when Jinx and Kid Flash became a real couple. She knew that Robin liked to blast his music no matter who was around and she knew all of Beast Boy's favorite games and his high scores, but she didn't know what it was like to watch Robin fly through the air and beat up the bad guys and be awestruck simply because he managed to do it all without any sort of supernatural powers although some days she wondered if his ability to sulk was inherited from his adopted father or some other power he'd been born with. She was actually surprised the boy hadn't recognized her yet. Not many people had purple hair and a red gem on their forehead.

"Right! Who haven't I talked about?"

"I think you missed the girls." On some level she was aware that the credits for the movie were now rolling up the screen.

"Starfire's pretty cool I guess, but being Robin's girlfriend is probably the coolest thing she can do. I mean, she's an alien. That's kind of a cheat card. Flying, super strength and everything, she was just born with it."

"So was Superman."

"Yeah, but did her planet explode?" She chuckled and remembered their visit to her world for Starfire's marriage. Robin had reached new levels of sulkiness that Raven hadn't known existed until that point in time.

"Good point." She refused to bring herself or Beast Boy up. She didn't need to talk about him any more than she wanted to hear what this little boy thought about her. She wasn't the girlfriend of anyone cool after all.

"Oh and there's Raven. I didn't use to like her very much, but then she got all awesome and got rid of Trigon like all by herself." She nearly choked on air. How could he know about that? He'd been stone at the time! Nobody but the team remembered that. How could he know?

"Trigon?" She remembered at the last moment that she was supposed to have been stone at the time too and she wouldn't know who Trigon was.

"Oh, right. You don't know. See, Raven's this giant demon's daughter and she was the portal for him to come down to Earth and destroy it, and he did, but Raven saved all the rest of the Titans and then they brought her back because they had some of her power and she got rid of Trigon and put everything back the way it was." She stared open-mouthed at the little boy. "My cousin told me. Because she's Bumblebee! Don't tell anyone though 'cause even I'm not supposed to know about it. She's friend with the Titans and everything. She said Beast Boy told her all about it." And then she remembered. Beast Boy wouldn't shut up about it for weeks afterward. Several times she'd almost killed him herself but Robin kept telling her that he was just happy they'd made it through and that she was back. She'd told him she didn't care how happy he was. He didn't need to be annoying.

"Do you promise not to tell?" _Tell who? Myself? Hi Raven, I'm not supposed to tell you, but you saved the world from your father!_

"Promise." The little boy smiled up at her.

"So who's your favorite?"

"Beast Boy." She hadn't meant to say that. It'd just jumped right out of her mouth without warning. Admittedly he was her favorite, but she hadn't meant to tell anyone that. She hadn't meant to give anyone any sort of idea that she might actually like the green boy.

"Oh, him? He used to be my favorite too. Before he got lame." Her face turned to stone at his words.

"Lame?"

"Yeah, I mean he got knocked out by an avalance? Come on! Even Robin didn't get put into a coma by that and he can't turn into a wooly mammoth or anything cool like that!" The room began to get darker and darker but the little boy didn't seem to notice. "What a lame thing. He's not cool enough to be a Teen Titan. My cousin should replace him. He's not worthy." Before the poor kid even knew what was happening, his companion was towering over him, glaring at him with four red eyes.

"You should not speak of what you do not know little boy." Her voice had turned deeper and raspier. She sounded evil. "He saved the entire team. We were all buried beneath the ice and snow. He's in that coma because he had to find us and save us, the idiot." As she spoke, however, she began to shrink down. "He's such an idiot." Tears began to prick the backs of her eyes. She would not cry again.

"Raven?" She didn't hear the astonished, scared boy.

"He was idiotic. Completely stupid. He shoudn't have saved us all. Or at least not the way that he did."

"You're actually Raven. You're THE Raven." She didn't notice that he was no longer scared or that he was moving closer and closer to her as the tears forced themselves forward and began to pool, still trapped within her eyes.

"What's the use of saveing me if he's not going to be around to be annoying? To try to make me laugh? What's the point if he's just. Not. Here?" Small, warm arms reachedout and encircled her neck and the tears spilled down her cheeks as she closed her eyes.

"It's OK Raven. I'm sure he'll come back. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. He's not lame. He's really really tough and awesome." Unseen, Starfire slowly backed away from the room, green orbs dying from around her hands as a fresh rain broke down and showered the ground, the weathermen going crazy over another freak thunderstorm. When Bumblebee and Timmy's little sister returned with Starfire and a fresh batch of cookies in tow, they found Raven and Timmy sitting on the couch playing rock, paper, scissors.

"Hey, guys." They both turned and smiled at the approach of the three girls, Raven's eyes rimmed the slightest bit red.

"Want some cookies?" The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of coloring, cookies, and a rock, paper, scissors tournament. When Timmy and Bri's mother came to pick them up the three teenagers waved goodbye, sad to see their companions leave.

It was later in the afternoon that Raven snapped.

"Are you sure he's going to come back? It's been five weeks. Don't you think he would've woken up by now? Are you positive that we're not just holding onto something already gone and just hurting ourselves even more?" She stopped, barely able to breathe. It was Bumblebee's voice. She was talking about Beast Boy, she was sure of it. How could she be talking about him like that? He'd wake up. He had to. It was the only thing that kept her going through the days anymore. How would she be able to live with herself if she hadn't saved him? She'd only just realized that she was helplessly in love with her teammate.

"Bee, we can't think like that. Think about what Raven might say."

"Raven? I've only ever seen them fight. Why would she overly upset by this? She's tough." She heard Cyborg sigh as she felt the familiar stirring of rage within her. Maybe Cyborg could still save his girlfriend.

"You don't know them like I do, Bee. She's hanging on to the edge right now. I've only ever seen her this way once before and he was the only one who could fix her. They have a strange relationship, sure, but it's a strong one."

"Cyborg, she'll be fine. She'll get over it. I know she will. She's tougher than you think she is. She can do without Beast Boy. Besides, she deserves someone who will understand her better in my opinion."

"You should not speak of things you do not know little girl." She burst through the door, four red eyes alight and gleaming.

"Raven?" Cyborg choked out and Bumblebee drained of all color. She saw him lift his comminicator to show somebody the image of her in her demon form, but she didn't care. A tentacle of darkness slithered out from the cloak of shadow draped around her form and lifted Bee into the air.

"Raven, what are you doing? You need to calm down." She ignored his pleas. "Raven please, I know that you're trying to express more emotions. I know this isn't a full takeover so real Raven or Happy Raven or Love Raven! Please put her down! She's my girlfriend and I love her." His voice cracked as he saw his friend holding his girlfriend aloft by her throat, said girlfriend's struggles becoming less and less. "Please put her down, Raven. Please." Slowly she shrunk back down into her human form and Bee dropped to the floor, coughing and gasping for air, clutching at her throat. Horrified by what she had down, Raven leaned heavily agianst the doorframe, watching Cyborg fall to his knees next to her side and cover her in a hug, trying to protect her from anything and everything.

"RAVEN!" She heard Robin barrelling down the hallway and then skid to a stop a few feet away when he saw her as he normally did. "Raven. What happened?" She didn't answer him. She didn't even look at him. She turned and fled into her room. Not sure what to do, not sure what he'd see, he looked into the room to see Cyborg holding Bee as she cried.

"Cyborg. What happened?" The robotic teen looked up at his leader, eyes brimming with tears.

"Bee was suggesting that he pull the plug on BB because we don't know if he's going to wake up or not. Raven must've heard and she.. She went demon. Choked Bee." Robin looked down at the frightened girl with new understanding as Starfire appeared on the scene, a towel wrapped around her body and her fiery hair down and dripping wet, padding towards her boyfriend on bare feet.

"I've never seen her like that..." Bumblebee was obviously still shell-shocked by the events that had transpired.

"Only choked her?" Cyborg nodded and the dark-haired teen turned to his girlfriend. Quickly he kissed her cheek, then thought better of it and pressed his heated lips to hers. Pulling back too quickly for Starfire's taste and resting his forehead on hers.

"I'll explain in a little bit. Get dressed. You're too distracting." She smiled as he strode purposefully towards Raven's door, turning around and going into her own room to get dressed. He didn't even bother to knock. He just began to talk.

"Raven. You didn't kill her. You know that. You stopped yourself. You can control this. I'm out here for you. I'll always be out here for you. Don't think you're alone. We're all out here for you. No matter what. I'll explain things to Bumblebee. She'll forgive you. I know she will. Please come out." But the girl on the other side of the door didn't hear it. All she could hear was a familiar impish laugh and the birds singing. All she could see was green. All she could feel was her heart ripping itself out of her chest. She didn't eat. She didn't sleep. She didn't even move. Not until four days later.


	5. Chapter 5

**You're all idiots if you think I own the Teen Titans. Obviously, you're not all idiots.**

"Raven!" His abs scrunching as he lifted his head off of his pillow involuntarily as he awoke, the sheets sliding off of his bare chest. Cold sweat trickled down his green forehead as he tried desperately to remember the already fading nightmare. It had been cold and dark and Raven...

"Oh goodness! You nearly gave me a heart attack sweetie. I'll go tell your friends you're up then." The dark-skinned, round, short woman waddled pleasantly out of his room, leaving behind her the smell of cookies, a bouquet of dead flowers in her hand. Ok, that wasn't normal, but she wasn't making him eat pie so he decided to let it go in favor of trying to figure out where he was. This decidedly wasn't his room at the tower. The walls were the wrong color. Everything looked and smelled so weird. There were windows here, opened and letting a gentle breeze come in and gently remind him of the outside world. He smelled everything. Grass. Trees. Flowers. The flowers in his room. Robin. Starfire. Cyborg. Bumblebee. Sunshine. Everything but what he wanted. Where was she? He could smell her, but only on clothing and there! There she was. He breathed in deeply, smiling as he found the familiar scent of lavender, ink and old paper by the doorway. Raven hadn't ever even set foot within his room. So why was he using her cloak as a blanket? That was when he noticed the IV in his arm. Why did he have an IV? How long had he been here?

"BB!" Jerking his head up, he barely saw the familiar glint of his friend catching the sunlight before an overenthusiastic Cyborg threw himself on top of the invalid in a giant belly flop. The air was crushed out of his lungs before he had the chance to speak, but that didn't stop a giant smile from spreading itself across his face.

"Cyborg! Get offa him!" And then he saw a hint of yellow as Bumblebee peeled her boyfriend off of his best friend.

"Well ow." He rubbed his stomach where the main impact had occured, but smiled through the pain. It was nice to see all of his friends again, but... she was still gone.

"Where's Raven?" Immediately his team's smiles dulled while Robin's slipped completely off of his face.

"Guys can you give us a bit?" They filed out without protest, not even Cyborg protested. Nobody dared to speak, only casting looks of uncertainty over their shoulders and Beast By's apprehension grew. The fearless leader looked down at the ground and swallowed, trying to think of how best to start, but Beast Boy spoke before he had the chance.

"Is she dead?" Robin looked up abruptly and was surprised to find tears already welling within the changeling's eyes as he dare not blink for fear of spilling them.

"No! No, no, no. No, she's... Well, I suppose she's fine." He couldn't help but be slightly amused at the other boy's audible sigh and then the steel immediatly entering his eyes, prepared for whatever else it was that Robin was going to tell him because it was going to be alright as long as she wasn't dead. How had he missed this? How had Robin missed Beast Boy falling in love with Raven and Raven falling in love with Beast Boy? Unbidden, the image of Starfire walking down the hallway towards him wrapped in just a towel, water glistening off of her skin sending his teenage heart into a race leapt into his mind. Oh yea. That was how he'd missed that.

"How long have I been here? Like this?" Once again upright in bed, he gestured down at his IV'd arm and watched as Robin mentally calculated.

"Around six weeks total." The boy swallowed this information like Castor Oil. He felt absolutely sick to his stomach knowing that his team had been left without him for six weeks. What had happened in that time? What was wrong with Raven? Why hadn't she been in his room? He knew she didn't always like to be around him, but they were still friends.

"What do you remember, Beast Boy?" Robin asked cautiously as he pulled a chair towards his friend's bed and eased himself down into it.

"I remember.. Me and Raven were at the Tower alone.." the memories came trudging back, taking their own sweet time as they did so.

"We couldn't decide on a movie when you called us to Alaska. Doctor Light was there. And then I made her laugh." He smiled at the memory. He'd always loved her smile and her laugh. That he had to work for them only made them that much sweeter when she slipped in her control and awarded him.

"We went and the High 5 was there and then... there was an avalance." And then the memories began to flood back as if just saying the word _avalance_ had broken the dam open. He remembered accidentally morphing into a mammoth with his mouth open to break free of the snow. He remembered with perfect clarity the panic that had insued when he hadn't been able to see his team, the mind-numbing rage and horror that came when he realized Raven wasn't there either and he had changed into the beast, immediately sniffing for her and digging like a madmen when he located her scent, only changing back when he held her safely in his arms. Carefully, laying her down on the snow with his coat on top of her because he still had to find the rest of the team. Knowing that he should wake her up so that she could help him, but not being able to bring himself from disturbing such a beautiful and peaceful face. Her face was never this peaceful when she was awake and he hated seeing the ongoing battle within her mind. Not having the energy or will to transform back into the beast. Idiotically transforming into a bloodhound, sniffing out and dragging his team to relative safety one by one as he felt the hypothermia set in, freezing him from the inside out. Knowing that he'd swallowed too much water. Knowing that he was probably going to die. Crawling back over to where Raven lay, tugging his own coat back on and curling up to her side in some sort of attempt to get warm or keep her warm. And then... nothing until he saw a white raven.. nothing again until he woke up here.

"I got you all out and then... nothing." He had reasons for not telling his leader everything. He couldn't admit that he was in love with the one woman who had never love him back to anybody. He could hardly admit it to himself. Robin leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped.

"I was the last to wake up. When I did, Raven was kneeling next to you, shaking you and Starfire was trying to repair Cyborg. I took over repairing him and Starfire tried to help Raven with you, but Raven wouldn't let her. She sealed you two off in one of her energy domes." Beast Boy remained motionless and expressionless as he was told this. "She started trying to heal you but you... you weren't breathing. After one day she didn't have the energy to keep the dome going and keep healing you. She had her eyes closed and I checked your pulse... Beast Boy... You were dead." He stopped his story telling and peeked at his friend, seeing the astonished look on his face. Waiting until he spoke to continue.

"I... Raven was trying to heal a dead body.. MY dead body for a full day?"

"Four actually. Our communications had been blocked by the High 5. Jinx heard on the 'success' while she was pub crawling for somebody. It took her and Kid Flash four days to hear about it and come find us. For those four days Raven didn't move. At all." Beast Boy blinked as he processed this. He hand't known that Raven would have cared so much.

"How am I alive?" He looked down at his hands. He was alive right? He wasn't some creepy weird clone thing?

"Right before Jinx and Kid showed up, Starfire managed to talk to Raven. I have no idea what she said, but Raven stood up, shouted her mantra and a blinding white raven covered you both with its wings. She collapsed on top of you and when I went to check both of your pulses, they were both beating in sync with each other. She was in a coma for five days."

"She saved me... So what's wrong with her now?" Robin went back to watching the floor intently. He was trying to decide how much to tell his friend when he remembered what Bumblebee's grandmother told them. He'd woken up screaming Raven. All of it, it was then.

"Well, she hasn't been the same since the avalance. When she woke up she asked to see you first out of everything. I let her and helped her down the hallway until Starfire took over since she's stronger than me. When Raven saw you she got this look on her face.. Like she was scared or horrified. She crumpled to the ground and began to cry. I made Star drop her before they actually made it into her room though. We weren't sure what her powers would do, but all that happened was it rained. Really, really hard. So I picked her up and put her back in her bed." Beast Boy swallowed the pain in his throat and tried to keep from picturing Raven crying.

"She stayed in her room for the most part, coming out every once in awhile, but she was different. She... she began to express her own emotions. It was tricky, but we got used to it. Things were looking like they could be OK again, once you woke up that is, but Raven.. About four days ago she heard Bee suggest to Cyborg that we pull the plug on you. She didn't think you were going to wake up and that we were just delaying the inevitable, dragging out the pain." Beast Boy could understand that. After six weeks he'd have doubts about somebody waking up too.

"Raven let her rage consume her." His drifting thoughts were pulled back to reality with that one simple sentence.

"You mean she..?"

"Demon state. She choked Bee and nearly killed her but didn't pull her into any other dimensions. She stopped herself before she killed Bee by herself, but she's shut herself in her room for the past four days. Cyborg tried to break the door down, but she won't let in at all." Beast Boy began to tune his leader out. All he could think of was Malchior. She'd needed help and she'd shut everybody out. What if she needed him? He was only brought back to reality by Robin's hand on his shoulder.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He blinked and looked at his legs swung over the side of the bed.

"I'm going to see Raven."

"Like hell! You've been in a coma for six weeks! You can't walk and you most certainly can't go see Raven. No." And so the struggle began, Beast Boy pushing and struggling to get up and go see her even if he had to crawl and Robin trying to push him back down onto the bed without hurting him.

"I can and I will! She needs me Robin! Can't you see that?"

"You're not going! She can need you in another few days when you can actually stand Garfield!"

"I'm going, Dick! You can't stop me!" The struggle and the shouting match continued in a similar vein, with other members of the team poking their heads in to see what was happening, always loosing interest, until both boys found themselves gasping for air and sprawled upon Beast Boy's bed.

"And you don't think she'll come here if we just tell her you're awake?" Robin looked hopefully at his friend with blue eyes, his sunglasses lying somewhere on the floor as a result of their tussle. Beast Boy merely looked at him with disbeliving eyes and snorted.

"Yeah, I guess not." Slowly, Robin raised himself from the mattress and stooped to put his shades back on, no matter that they were inside. "Well, c'mon then. I'd rather you try and see her with me than on your own." Surprised and grateful, Beast Boy accepted the outstretched arm Robin offered him. Together they began the excruciatingly slow process of reaching Raven's door. About ten minutes later, when they were halfway down the hall Beast Boy spoke through gritted teeth.

"Hey, Robin?" Robin grunted in response as Beast Boy spotted a full cup of tea sitting outside of what he assumed to be Raven's door.

"Why was Raven's cloak in bed with me?" It took the leader a moment and a shifting of weight before he answered his friend's question.

"You grew agitated without it. Turning and shouting. You'd rip out your IV if we didn't keep it near you."

"Oh." Another ten minutes passed, filled with the soft sounds of two nearly adults struggling their way down the hallway. When they finally reached her doorway, they stood there for a moment, catching their breath.

"Mind if I try standing without you?" The green changeling wasn't looking at his friend, only the door in front of him, and carefully Robin extricated himself from under Beast Boy's arm, watching in amazement as his friend stood solidly on his own, actually supporting his full weight. Then again, he'd lost a lot of weight being in a coma for six weeks.

"Raven?" He leaned forward, bracing his hand against the doorframe, not willing to admit to Robin that his legs hurt like hell and he was close to collapsing, beads of sweat rolling down in between his shoulder blades and off of his forehead. It didn't matter anyways really. He was more concerned with Raven.

"It's me... uh Beast Boy. I'm awake now which I guess you probably guessed. Um, Robin told me all about what happened and what you did. He told me you haven't been out of your room for the past four days. I'm worried about you, Rae. Could you please open the door and let me in? Or at least say something so I know that you're OK?" There was nothing but silence behind the door in front of him. Damn. He couldn't keep standing here for very much longer and he didn't want Robin to try and make him go back to his room. He needed to know that she was OK.

"Raven, please..." He heard the raspiness in his voice and he heard it break, but he didn't see or hear Raven open the door and pull him into her room. Robin blinked in surprise and took a step forward, but then thought better of it. Instead, he turned on his heel and made his way into the kitchen where the rest of the team was.

"Well? Is he finally asleep again?" This was Cyborg standing by the stove, stirring something that smelled suspiciously like bacon. Bee was sitting, already munching the familiar looking meat and Star was already by his side, kissing his cheek, waiting for him to fill them in on what was going on before planting her lips on his.

"No." He turned and gave his girlfriend a kiss on the top of her head while he heard Cyborg slam his spatula down. Robin couldn't help but greatly appreciate his recent growth spurt while Bee tried to calm her own boyfriend down.

"Where is he then?"

"With Raven." The four teenager stood in the kitchen silently as the bacon crackled behind Cyborg. Finally, the bacon was deemed cooked and Starfire pressed her lips to Robin when she decided that this was all he was going to tell them. She didn't need to know anything else. Eventually Bee spoke.

"So.. y'all wanna play cards?"

Beast Boy couldn't believe it. He was sitting in a rather dark and gloomy room that smelled, no it stank of Raven's specific scent. The sorceress in question was sitting on the other end of her own bed very carefully, specifically NOT touching and/or looking at him anymore.

"Raven.. What happened? Are you OK? What's wrong?" He reached out for her and shrank away from his touch.

"I'm more worried about you. Idiot. Why'd you try and walk down here? I could've come down to you. I've been up and walking for six weeks." He snorted and nodded in agreement.

"But you wouldn't have come down to see me if Robin just told you I was awake, would you have?" She blinked at him. She probably wouldn't have. Or at least, not right away like he had seemed hell bent on. Yes, she'd heard them arguing throught the door and down the hall. The entire county had probably heard them arguing.

"No... No probably not. Are you OK, Beast Boy?" He blinked long eye lashes over impossibly green eyes, she looked concerned. She actually looked concerned. Not the usual, slight difference in facial cues, but readily and readably concerned. She was showing emotion. She was even showing emotion in her voice. And damn did it feel good to hear her concerned for his own well being even if all he cared about was her. He tried not to yawn as he answered her.

"I'm perfectly fine. A little confused I suppose about why you went a little nutso when I... saved you all." He couldn't say died. He could barely accept the fact that he had actually been dead, let alone say it aloud to Raven of all people.

"Oh." She retreated back to her side of the bed and he realized that she'd been leaning towards him. Quickly she reached behind her head and flicked her hood back over her head and he knew he'd lost her. Why did he always have to say something and lose her? Sighing he turned away from her and looked down at his hands. He knew better than to ask her about it now. She may think him an idiot, but he did know exactly what she'd do in response to most of the things he did. He just liked getting a resonse out of her more often than not.

"Beast Boy..." Her voice floated to him on a soft inexistant breeze. He hated that all of the windows were still sealed shut, but he could handle it if he was surrounded by the smell of her instead of the smells of outside and sunshine. He turned his head and watched her lower her hood, letting him look at her face and he breathed a sigh of relief. He hated not being able to see her face. He absolutely hated it. With a toothy grin he didn't allow her to say anything else.

"So what have you been up to?" Impreceptibly, or at least he hoped imperceptibly, he moved towards her, watching her face relax into the detatched mask he knew so well as she thought about what she'd done in the past six weeks and what she should tell her. He studied the pale planes of her nose as it twitched slightly as she tried to somehow know what it was Robin had told him. He loved that little nose twitch. It twitched whenever she was thinking about something that especially required concentration.

"Reading. Meditating. Drinking my herbal tea." All things he wasn't surprised by in the slightest. "Oh and I flipped out on a boy." He sat there for a moment with his bottom jaw hanging on the bedspread as he tried to process this. She tried not to laugh as he sat there, staring at her, completely and utterly dumbfounded by her statement.

"What happened? Are you OK? Is he OK? What happened?" Immediately he was reaching out towards her, as if to grab her arms and physically make sure she was fine, but she shyed away from his touch.

"I'm fine, Garfield. He's fine. He's actually probably more than fine. I just kind of flipped out on something silly he said, is all. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You said my name." He was dumbstruck. The sound of his name rolling off her tongue in that familiar rasp. He'd had no idea that that would make him want to kiss her that badly. Wait... she'd said something about another boy. She opened her mouth, probably to say something observant about how he was the master of perception, but he cut her off.

"So who is he?" She snapped her mouth shut with a click of her teeth and tried to forget the look of pure happiness that had crossed his face before he shut it off again behind his own mask.

"Timmy? He's Bee's cousin." What was his fixation on an eleven-year-old?

"Timmy, huh?" He tried not to grit his teeth as he said the name. "Tell me about him. Do I need to rough him up a bit for you?" He mockingly pulled his fisted hand in front of him and took a few jabs at the air.

"You're ridiculous." He turned to her and saw the slight curl of her lips and silently he did a victory dance within his head.

"No, I'm serious. If he steps a toe out of line, I'll give him a left jab and a right hook and a-"

"Timmy's eleven you idiot." He stopped, dropping his arms and turned fully to face her, pulling his legs onto the bed, noticing that they had drifted towards each other inadvertantly. An eleven-year-old. He was offering to beat an eleven-year-old up for a half-demon. Suddenly, he was stuck by the simple oddness of the scene that had unfolded before him and he couldn't help it anymore. He was laughing. He was laughing and cackling and guffawing and all those words rolled together until he had an arm wrapped around his stomach and tears were leaking from his eyes. After around ten minutes he realized she was laughing with him, or at him.

"You're laughing." He reached forward and brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face. She didn't lean away from his touch this time, but she did breathe in sharply and the smile melted off of her face.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." He laughed as he expelled the breath from his chest and let his hand fall down onto the bed, away from her face, no matter how much he longed to leave it on her perfect and pale porcelain face. As they sat in a semi-tense silence he wondered when it was that he'd fallen hopelessly and helplessly in love with his teammate. She cleared her throat and his eyes made their way back up to meet her violet orbs, boring holes into his sole.

"I had a talk with my emotions while you were out." He opened his mouth to answer, but decided against it, clicking his fangs together and waiting for her to continue. Pleased, she thought about how exactly she wanted to word it.

"They basically had an intervention. They convinced me that I needed to express them more often. Trigon is gone. I have nothing to else to fear so I'm trying to... show myself to you guys I suppose, but it's a dangerous process." He stretched himself out on her bedspread, placing his head on her pillow and his feet on her lap. For once she allowed it.

"That's why you shut yourself in here again, isn't it? You wanted a better handle on your emotions before going back out there and accidentally unleashing rage again. Twice in one day.. That's gotta be terrifying." She blinked in surprise as he yawned and closed his. He always managed to surprise her. This boy was so much smarter than she, or anybody else, ever gave him credit for. Just because he liked to make people laugh didn't mean that he was necessarily stupid. She smiled as his mouth fell open.

"Don't you fall asleep on my bed now, Garfield. You have your own bed to sleep in." He only managed a sleepy nod as his fatigue began to win him over. It was just such a comfortable bed, or maybe it wasn't the bed that was comfortable but the fact that he was literally surrounded by the smell and presence of Raven. Was he ever going to find the courage to tell her that he was so irrevocably and deeply in love with her? It just relaxed him even further when he heard the slight smile in her voice as she spoke to him. He wasn't even sure what she was saying anymore; he was simply to sleepy to care at this point.

"Sleep well, love." She moved his feet onto the cushy mattress and pulled a blanket over the shapeshifter, bending down to press a chaste kiss to his forehead, she stopped and thought better of it. Baby steps. She didn't need all of her emotion coming out at once. Her hand was mere inches from the cold and gold doorknob when she was stopped.

"Raven." She turned quickly, startled by the raspiness of his voice. His eyes were still shut. She smiled as she realized he was sleep talking.

"Yes?" He tried to keep the smile from his face when he knew that she thought he was sleep talking.

"Raven." Her name wasn't an unspoken question anymore, but a happy exclamation. His sleepy lips curled up in a smile to reveal his fangs in a gesture so cute she almost couldn't stand it. Affection was screaming in her ear.

"I'm here, Gar." His lips tugged themselves up farther, even though he was still holding back his smile. He had no idea why he was doing this. He had no idea what he was going to say to her. He just wanted her to stay longer. Just a little bit longer. Just for forever by his side. He felt a small hand slip itself into his and he just couldn't handle it anymore. Sleepily, slowly he brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. He heard her gasp, but she wasn't pulling her hand away. Courageously, he dared to press another to the gentle bends and contours of her hands, trying to convey more passion and love into this one single moment of contact. And then the words were flying out of his mouth, working their way past his fangs and around her slender, delicate fingers.

"I love you." There was no sound from her. She didn't dare move. Or breathe. Or think. After a few moments, he let his hand go slack and she moved his hand onto the mattress so that it wasn't dangling over the edge of the bed. Carefully and quietly, he heard the door open and then shut again, but that was all. Before she had even taken three steps down the hall, he was fast asleep once more. Five steps down the hall she paused and leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor. Had that really just happened? Had he really just kissed her and told her he loved her? Oh, there was so much going on in her mind it was giving her a rather terrible headache. She tapped into each one, one at a time, hearing what it was they had to say, saving Love for last. When she was finally asked what she had to say, she didn't speak. She instead showed Raven her most cherished memories. The time when he'd laughed at something she'd said, thereby saving his brain from Mad Mod. The way his hair looked in the morning when they had missions at one o'clock. That special glint he got in his eyes whenever he looked at her that she'd hardly ever noticed before. The feeling of that stupid little penny in her hand that she refused to drop up until the very moment she was nearly obliterated. The memories proceeded one after the other in quick succession until the ended at her most powerful memory, her most cherished above all the others. His rather short speech after they'd defeated Malchior.

_OK, fine, you're way creepy. But that doesn't mean you have to stay locked in your room. You think you're alone, Raven, but you're not._

Standing again, she made her way to the kitchen where she heard quiet conversation drifting towards her. With every step, she felt the weight of the world ease off of her own two, small shoulders. He loved her. He _loved_ her. This was more than she could've ever hoped for, but.. She couldn't let him know she loved him in return. She wasn't good for him in any way, shape or form. She didn't even have a handle on her emotions, but hearing him say that he loved her was enough. It was enough for her. It was enough to know that it wasn't entirely impossible for somebody to love. Maybe someday in the future...

"Raven! Where is Beast Boy?" Starfire had jumped out of her chair, abandoning the cards in her hand to the table and started towards the sorceress.

"Asleep on my bed. Cyborg, did you buy anything vegetarian at the store?" Bee nudged her dozing boyfriend and his attention slowly slid to Raven. After Bee re-asked the other girl's question Cyborg slowly opened his mouth to speak.

"Still have lots of waffles. Tofu dogs too actually. Everything for pancakes. Lots of fruit, but it might be bad now, I'll have to check." She laughed softly as her friend rubbed his eyes, like a five-year-old, in an attempt to wake himself up. Unbeknownst to Raven they'd just spent fifteen minutes explaining most of the card game they were playing to Starfire, and they still weren't completely done.

"Good. Beast Boy will probably be hungry when he wakes up." Looking at her team, she realized they were all giving her Mona Lisa smiles, like they knew something that she didn't adn they weren't under any circumstances going to tell her what it was they knew that she didn't. Before she could think on this long though, Robin spoke.

"It's good to see you Raven."

"Well, I got kicked out of my room." It took another moment before Cyborg abruptly erupted into laughter enough to to startle Bee out of her chair. Disgruntled, she looked up at Cyborg as he helped her back up into her chair.

"I forgot how funny you are." Sighing, he rose from his chair and walked away from the table and headed towards the more kitcheny part of the kitchen. "I'll check on that food for BB. When do you think he'll be awake?" Bee scoffed and moved the chair recently vacated by Cyborg a suitable distance away from her so that Raven could sit there instead.

"He slept for what? Six, seven weeks? It can't be that much longer." She patted the hard wood on the seat of the chair she'd just maneuvered a few inches away from her. "Come play cards with us, Raven. We haven't actually really gotten to play yet, but it sounds like fun. What's it called again Rob?" He sighed and dealt another hand of twelve cards out for Raven to take as she glided silently to her chair.

"Liverpool Rummy. Don't worry about not understanding it at first Raven. We're still kind of explaining it to Star." She nodded and slowly learned how to play the game. Each game took roughly twenty minutes if not longer to complete depending on how each hand played out. Some silent agreement had been passed to just keep playing this card game until Beast Boy woke up again. How they'd know if he was awake while they were all there at the table wasn't a thought one of them had had, but every once in awhile somebody would go check on him. Eventually Cyborg joined in the festivities. Several games ended with Star or Cyborg crying either from relief of winning or from losing brutally. Liverpool Rummy was not for the faint of heart. It was twenty-four hours of playing cards before Raven heard Beast Boy's feeble voice calling out for somebody to help him off of the stupid bed.

**Sorry that took so long to upload. School. Sucks. Have a nice day :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Last chapter. Don't own the Teen Titans naturally.**

"Hey, Aqualad is everything ready?" Beast Boy had picked possibly the worst possible place to try and have a private conversation on his communicator. He was whispered suspiciously in the middle of the main hallway of the rebuilt tower, but the fact that it was so public had apparently not occured to the changeling. In his defense he was still getting used to the new tower. It was only a couple months since he'd awoken at Bumblebee's grandmother's and the first order of business had been to rebuild the tower, but for some reason or another, they'd decided to redesign. He was perpetually getting completely lost in the layout.

"Everything's a go."

"What's a go?" Somehow managing to jump and spin completely around at the same time he saw Raven standing in front of him, a questioning eyebrow raised, hands on her cocked hips. He saw a glint of silver on her left hand and he couldn't help but smile and remember. They'd finally let him go on a few missions with them and nothing had gone horribly wrong. They'd won every time without too much difficultly. And then Raven's birthday rolled around and he'd given her the risky present he'd been mulling over actually giving to her for too long. It was simply a silver ring, the word nevermore scrawled across the inside in a fancy looking script. Miraculously, it had even fit her when she tried it on. He wasn't sure how much she wore it because she kept avoiding him.

"You need to stop sneaking up on me, Rae." She narrowed her eyes at the use of the pet name, but didn't say anything. She was different. She'd been different ever since the avalance. She avoided him, but when they spent time together she seemed.. softer somehow. As if the walls that so carefully guarded her emotions were beginning to lower. She still refused most emphatically to even try to play one of his video games, but she'd sit on the couch and keep him company most of the time while she read some book or another. She let him grab her wrist to keep from leaving without sending him out the window and he wasn't in constant fear around her anymore. He took this as her non-verbally saying she loved him in return but this was _Raven. _You couldn't be sure of anything unless you took a trip inside her head for yourself.

"You need to stop dodging the question, Gar." He smiled at the pet name, but didn't say anything. He loved it when she called him by his real name.

"A surprise for you is what's a go." She blinked at him, dropping her hands from her hips in surprise.

"Beast Boy..." He held a single, green hand up in front of her face immediately.

"Nope. We're going. No protests. No choice." She raised both her eyebrows at him but resigned herself to her fate with a sigh. Naturally, she really could refuse him, but she always humored him when it came to something like this. She just couldn't help herself when it came to this boy standing in front of her, eyes gleaming, over-flowing with pride in himself and hope that she wouldn't fight it.

"Secret identity required?" Over the years, and these past few months especially the entire team had adopted secret identities to venture forth into the world with. It had mainly come about so that Robin and Starfire could go out without getting mobbed by the paprazzi constantly when they'd finally, FINALLY, started dating a few years back. Then it was so Cy and Bee could go out together without getting mobbed. And then Batman had given him some sort of doohickey that let his skin appear tan and his ears and teeth less pointy. Sure, he went out but he really only wanted it so that he could go out with his own girlfriend. He was the last single guy on the team and he was being left out of conversations. It was his turn to claim a girl, and he already had one in mind. A certain dark-haired, short and curvy demoness standing in front of him, waiting for an answer.

"We're going away from any and all civilization, so it's up to you, Rae. Meet me in the op room when you're ready." She nodded and began swaying down the hallway. Ever since she'd decided to let her emotions out just the barest bit she'd gotten this certain swing in her walk and he enjoyed this new development very, very much. He just couldn't get over how much sass and sarcasm she had imbued simply into her walk, that and he just liked the look of her. When she was out of sight, he ran to his room, throwing on a white t-shirt, some jeans and converse, and then he crashed on the couch to wait for her. When she reappeared he nearly choked on air. She was wearing daisy dukes, a white tank and converse, unwittingly mirroring him. He'd never seen her in daisy dukes. They were a great improvement, somehow, over the leotard she wore so often. This was now his official favorite normal clothes outfit and if all went well he planned on telling her just that.

"What are you staring at?" She was crossing her arms over her chest and he shook his head, clearing his thoughts. With a mischevious glint to his eyes, he produced a black bandana as he rose from the couch and walked towards her.

"What's that for, BB?" Slowly, and without answering her, he circled her and secured the blindfold around her eyes despite her protests.

"I told you it was a surprise! Now, would you like me to push you from behind with my hands on your waist to guide you or pull you by your wrist?" Her mouth scrunched over to the right side as she thought it over and he prayed that she'd pick the waist option.

"Waist, I guess." This was all totally strange and she decided she wasn't going to overthink anything until it was all over, for once in her life. Silently and behind her back he did a little victory dance and then ever so carefully he placed his large, rough hands around her waist and began to guide her towards the door. He tried his damndest to not let his thumbs stray to the little patch of exposed skin between her shorts and her top and stay focused on what was in front of them so that she didn't trip over anything. He guided her slowly, taking his own sweet time to his car, avoiding the other team members all the while. Once they were securely in the vehicle he drove like a maniac to the marina where he agian led her much slower than he really needed to onto a boat. She kept her mouth shut patiently as he started the boat and steered them out to a completely deserted island perfectly in the middle of nowhere. Once he'd helped her out of the vessel he gingerly pulled the blindfold off of her delicate face.

"We're here." She blinked rapidly, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden brightness and she spun around, taking her surroundings in. It wasn't a particularly large island, she could see all of the edges and it was mostly rocks. A few trees had been brave enough to try and grow with mixed and pathetic results. Finally she faced a rather anxious looking Beast Boy.

"And we're here because...?" He would've liked to sit on the nice, big flat rock right behind him but he was too wired at the moment to sit down.

"So we can talk." She stared at him blankly, confused. "I wanted to be away from everybody else when we had this conversation."

"You know, generally surprises are presents." He chuckled for a moment at her humor. It'd been awhile since he'd heard her particular brand of sarcasm outside of missions. She avoided talking to him at all costs it seemed.

"Well, this could be a kind of present depending on how this goes, Rae." She arched an eyebrow at him curiously, silently asking him to go on. "You see... I'm hopelessly and endlessly in love with you Raven." This had most certainly NOT been what she'd been expecting. "I can't believe it's taken me this long to tell you, but I've been in love with you for some time now and I don't think I'm ever going to stop loving you." God, this was terrifying. He reached out for her hand to stop his from shaking and she surprised him but letting him capture it. "Please don't be scared of me or this. I'm never going to turn you away or hurt you. I'm not Malchior. I'm not going to use you. I'm not Trigon. You're more than your powers to me. You're beautiful and wonderful and I love you. I promise." She allowed his large, calloused hand to cradle her slender, cold one. She couldn't breathe. There was a riot breaking out inside her head. She almost reached up to touch her temple but then she felt another large, calloused hand cradling the side of her face and the voices quieted just a smidge.

"I love you. I love the way you love waffles. I love the way you hate all of the movies I love. I love how you think video games rot your brain because they probably do. I love how you'll sit on the couch next to me, silent, just giving me your company. I love that you like creepy abandoned warehouses." The still water around the island was beginning to stir due to some unseen force. "I love the way your tea smells. I love the way you always smell like lavender and ink. I love you so damn much. Do you believe me, Rae?" She swallowed the lump in her throat and finally dared to meet his lips. Her response came out as a whisper.

"Yes." That was all he needed. He'd barely let her speak before his lips were covering hers, effectively stealing and all words she'd been about to say about how he should stay away from her, about how she loved him in return, he even stole away the voices shouting within her. All that was left was him. Him, him, him. His smell, his feel, his everything. She didn't notice it when her free hand went up to the back of his head and her fingertips dug into his scalp. She didn't notice it when she began to lean into his entirely too strong arms, melting into his embrace. She did however notice when he groaned and dropped her hand in favor of encircling her small waist and pulling her close to him. She didn't notice when both of her arms wound their way around his neck, her fingers running themselves through and back his messy hair. She did notice when he bit her bottom lip and small, unbidden noise came from the back of her throat. She loved it when his lips left hers and made a small trail down her jawline and then down her throat, circling the skin made available to him by her shirt. This couldn't be happening. She was breathless. Her emotions were completely out of control and she didn't care. She should care. She could hurt him. She needed to tell him to get away so that she could compose herself.

"Garfield-" His name came out low, breathless and sultry. Immediately, his lips were back on hers, pressing themselves, moving to some rhythm Raven was barely aware of when she decided she needed to think and she definitely could NOT think when he was doing this, and so he found himself flung back from her, somehow landing gently on the rock he'd been thinking about sitting on. When he opened his eyes finally, he saw her pacing back and forth in front of her, muttering to herself. He almost got up to go to her, wrap her back up in his arms, but her upheld hand stilled him.

"Just let me think for a moment." And so he sat back and watching her, studied her, replaying what had just happened over and over again in his mind. She hadn't killed him yet, which was a good sign. He glanced over at the sad trees and was surprised to find that they had straightened themselves out and they actually looked kind of healthy. There was even some flowers among the green, green leaves. He smiled and returned to looking at Raven. She was still wearing his ring. On the fourth finger of her left hand. A ridiculously giant grin expanded itself across his face when he saw this.

"So you love me. " She'd stopped pacing and was inching closer and closer to him as she asked this question, stopping her movement before he answered.

"I did say that, yes." She took another tiny, tiny step towards him.

"Why?" He opened his mouth and closed it again. He blinked. Why? That particular question had never crossed his mind. He didn't know. He didn't know why the sun had decided to rise in the east and set in the west. He loved. It was simply a part of him.

"Ever asked somebody why the sun shines?" She blinked back at him from six inches away.

"Well, no."

"Well, that's why I love you. The sun shines. When it stops shining I might just stop loving you, but until then it's entirely out of the question." Four inches away now and he could barely take it. She stopped walking and he about screamed.

"You know what you're getting yourself into?" He decided that he, in fact, couldn't take it and reached out, hooking his fingers around the belt loops in her shorts and pulled her close. So achingly close to him.

"We've been on a team for I don't even know how many years, Rae. I'm nineteen now. I think I know what I'm getting myself into." More confidently than he felt he rose to his feet and cradled her face once more, tilting hers up to his, giving her no choice but to look at him.

"You shouldn't love me, Beast Boy." He smiled and rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone, loving the way she sighed involuntarily. Adoring the way her eyes fluttered, like they wanted to close.

"I can't love anybody else. I don't care to. I don't care if you think you're still cursed or if I shouldn't love you. Haven't you heard? True love's kiss can break any curse." Her lips quirked up in a half smile.

"You're ridiculous." He laughed, throwing his head back as he felt her relax into his embrace.

"Maybe. Girlfriend?" In answer, she reached a hand up to the back of his head and brought his head down to meet hers in another kiss. This one full of sweetness and acknowledged love. For once she didn't care what havoc her emotions were wrecking. It coudln't be so bad on an island so remote. Aqualad felt the energy pulses five miles away from the island he'd just cleared of fish and mentally thanked Beast Boy for the warning. He had no idea what the other boy was doing, but it definitely would've killed the fish around that area, or so he assumed by the power of the energy he was feeling. When their lips finally seperated, Beast Boy's emerald eyes gleamed with happiness as he looked down at the girl, resting her head on his chest.

"Gar?" That whisper made him just want to smother her with more kisses, the way it caught on her throat and rasped its way up to him, but she wanted to say something so he let her.

"Yeah?" From its choice position on her hip his right thumb found the strip of bare skin on her back he'd noticed earlier and he began running the pad back and forth over maybe an inch of skin. He appreciated the little shiver and snuggle she gave in response.

"I love you." Smiling, he buried his face in her raven hair. After a few more minutes of simply standing there, she spoke again.

"We should head back. They might miss us by now." He sighed and released her.

"I guess you're right, but one last thing?"

"What i-" He cut off whatever she was asking with his lips, inhaling the words before they ever had a chance. They wasted another ten minutes, lip-locked before finally crawling back into the boat, and then into his car, where she lounged against his side. When they returned they went their seperate ways for awhile and soon enough missions ate up their time. It was about a week later of stolen moments and kisses, when Beast Boy was laying oon the couch, his head in her lap as she read and he was playing games.

"We never told the team." The fingers playing his fingers stilled for a moment as she processed this and looked up from the words to look at him, but her attention was diverted by the team in question standing in front of the screen, Beast Boy's game paused behind their shell-shocked faces.

"I think, they've figured it out, love." Smiling slyly she pressed a sweet kiss into his green hair and went back to her book.

**Ta-Da. Hope you liked it. You know the drill. REVIEW! I COMMAND YOU! Have a smiley day.**


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